Rachel's POV:
'come on,' mum called, 'if you don't pack, you can go without your stuff.'
I groaned and rolled off the side of my bed. I pull my duffel bag out of the wardrobe and empty my draws into it. I scoop the clothes off my floor and shove them in. I grab a few things off my desk and chuck them in as well before zipping up my bag. 'good enough.'I murmur to myself. The bag was still half asleep but I simply don't care.
I tied my hair up into a messy bun and grab my pillow off the bed. A photo falls off my bed with it. Tears prick the side of my eyes as memories flood back into my mind. I feel a few tears drop from my eyes and I quickly swiped them away with the horrible memories. I put the photo in my pocket with my phone.
I pick up my duffel bag and walk out of my room, without looking at how I looked. I stopped caring about that a while ago.
Mum stepped out of the kitchen, 'Want me to make you something to eat, hun?' she asks.
'no' I answer quietly. I stopped eating a while ago. It's not that I don't want to eat, it's just that if I do eat, I struggle to keep it down and I end up feeling worse than before. I guess she didn't notice, she doesn't notice much anymore.
'we're leaving for the airport in a minute.' she called before walking back into the lounge room, she eyed my half-empty bag. 'Is that all you're taking?'
I shrug and say, 'It's all I need.'
She rolls her eyes at me and gives up, knowing that nothing she says will make me pack more. 'Alright, go get in the car then.'
I grab my bag and slip my worn grey converse on.
The car ride to the airport was long and boring. Mum tried to make conversation but I wasn't really interested. She was sending me away. She gave up on me. Just like everyone else. No one cared anymore.
After the accident, people would look at me with sympathy but after a while they got annoyed with me. They called me attention seeking and told me I was faking. They were wrong.
I didn't want their attention. I wanted my friends back. I wanted them all to turn up at my house, laughing and saying what a funny joke it was. I shuddered as the memory of the giant truck speeding towards as replayed in my head.
Out of the 5 of us in that car, only I survived. Why? It wasn't fair. Why couldn't I have gone with the rest of them? I would be with them right now. But instead I got to watch as my best friend begged me to help her as she slowly bled to death.
I shook the image out of my head and we pulled up at the airport.
'Bye Hun,' Mum said as I got out of the car, 'Your aunt will be waiting for you at the airport.'
'bye,' I mumbled as I shut the door.
That'd be right. Mum dumping me on her sister because she can't put up with me anymore. 'I haven't even met the woman,' I thought to myself, 'how am I meant to even know what she looks like?'
I boarded the flight and immediately conked out. The flight to Mullingar was only a few hours, so by the time I woke up we were landing.
I used to be scared of flying, but I'm over it now. I've experienced things a lot scarier than flying.
Niall's POV:
I woke up as my stepmum threw a pillow at my head.
'Wake up Nialler. We have to go to the airport.' she said.
I groaned and pulled on a t-shirt. My step-cousin Rachel was coming. Amanda, my step mum, told me yesterday. I hadn't even met her, or even heard of her come to think of it.
Amanda and I left after breakfast to pick her up.
'how do we even know what she looks like?' I pestered.
'I saw a photo of her. Stop asking me questions.' Amanda said.
We walked into the arrivals part of the airport. I looked around, not really sure who I was looking for.
'Ah, there she is.' Amanda said, smiling. I turned around and looked where she was pointing.
A girl, about 17-looking walked through the gates. She was wearing jeans and a hoodie, her dark brown hair was tied up in a messy bun. Her jeans were torn. She had a kind of punkrocker look, I guess. Mum called out to her and she started walking over. As she got closer, I noticed some smaller details. Her eyes were surrounded by deep black bags, and they had a sad look in them. I noticed how skinny she was. Her cheekbones stuck out a lot, not in a healthy way. Something bad had happened to her.
She walked over to us and Amanda pulled her into a hug.
'hey sweetie, nice to meet you. I'm Amanda.'
'I'm Rachel.' she quietly answered. Her eyes flashed to me for a second.
'I'm Niall.' I said smiling.
'Nice to meet you.' she practically whispered. She put a hand up to her head. 'er, I need to sit down.' Without warning, her lugs buckled underneath her and she fainted. I caught her and she slumped onto my shoulder.
'I'll get help.' Amanda said and hurried off. I lay Rachel on the ground and tried to get ehr to wake up by talking to her. She didn't wake up. I looked around and saw Amanda running back to us with paramedics right behing her.
